Why We Said “I Don’t” to Wedding-Night Sex

Why We Said “I Don’t” to Wedding-Night Sex

“My husband decided to invite every friend he’d ever had to our wedding, which meant the night was more about catching up with old pals than making out with me. I wound up with 12 men in my honeymoon suite until 6 A.M.” —Monica, 33, San Diego

“Twenty minutes after the ceremony, I sat down to the reception dinner and felt a little funny. Not too long after, I realized I had started my period in my white dress! We wound up doing it five days later in Germany on our honeymoon.” —Lesa, 32, Aspen, Colo.

“After our wedding, we were both so exhausted that sex was just about the last thing on both our minds. Now granted…we had been living together for over a year prior to the wedding, so it’s not like it was our first time. When we got home at around 4 A.M., we got undressed, counted the money we got as presents and went right to sleep.” —Mike, 32, Scotch Plains, N.J.

“I was very nervous about giving a speech introducing my bridesmaids, so I had a few drinks that turned into too many drinks by the end of the night. I passed out face down in my dress when we got to the room. I woke up with a hangover so bad that they put me in a wheelchair to get me on the ship for our cruise the next day, so we didn’t consummate the marriage until two days later. At least we were first in line on the ship since I was considered ‘handicapped.’”—Candy, 34, Jacksonville, Fla.

“My husband was so excited to open all the cards and count the checks that I fell asleep while he was writing it all down. I should also mention he is a financial adviser, so money is important to him. I woke up to find him sleeping in his tux pants with all the checks clutched in his hands. It was hysterical.”
—Lauren, 28 Richmond, Va.

“My husband and I both got comfortable on the bed in our hotel suite, he in his tux and me in my dress. We never turned down the bed; instead we both fell asleep on top of the comforter. I woke up three hours later with the hotel’s cardboard ‘welcome’ advertisement embedded in my cheek and the sound of my sweetheart snoring. Marriage is so hot!” —Kristie, 27, Castle Rock, Colo.

“After our amazing wedding ended, we went to the hotel room and started passionately kissing, but his hands kept getting stuck in my hair. There were just too many bobby pins! They were poking and gouging me, and I told him I couldn’t go on until I removed them. He decided to take a shower, and by the time he came out, I was crying with my hair in knots, almost paralyzed by the pain I had inflicted on myself. It took two hours before the two of us could get all of them out of my hair, and then it was time to get to the airport. We still laugh about it today.” —Barbilee, 40, Alberta, Canada

“My husband and I decided to get married on a private yacht with just the captain and his wife officiating and attending. The ceremony and moonlight dinner were so romantic, but neither of us realized how tiny the cabin was; our bedrooms were 10 feet apart. Our wedding night was not consummated because of this close proximity. I was far too embarrassed, as I would have to face these strangers—we had met less than six hours before—in the morning.”—Heather, 37, Boxford, Mass.

“Within minutes of arriving at our wedding-night hotel room, I felt ill, and it quickly turned into a full-blown stomach thing. I sent my hubby home to sleep by himself in our house, while I stayed at the hotel. The next morning, he took me to the doctor, testing the limits of ‘in sickness and in health.’ He got the exact same thing the first day of our honeymoon in Mexico.” —Lauren, 39, Chicago

“We ate leftovers from our reception dinner in the hotel room, enjoyed the chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne, showered and passed out. We reasoned that we have the rest of our lives for sex—tonight is for sleep!” —Corey, 33, Austin, Texas